In Her Dreams
by hester4418
Summary: "He slammed the door in anger as he left, and she sank to her knees, losing the battle to keep the tears from falling." - A J/C story written for VAMB's Secret Drabble Exchange 2013.


DISCLAIMER: _Star Trek: Voyager _and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story however belongs to me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was written for VAMB's "Secret Drabble Exchange 2013". The challenge was to write a short story (no more than 1500 words) based on a first line that was given by someone else. A big thank you to Ria & Sira for organizing the exchange!

_My first line and the choice of pairing were provided by Katthryn. This story is for her._

Written March/April 2013.

**In Her Dreams  
****by Hester (hester4418)**  


He slammed the door in anger as he left, and she sank to her knees, losing the battle to keep the tears from falling.

She had royally blown it. Now Chakotay would never talk to her again.

"Come now, girl, don't get all melodramatic. The admiral should return in two or three days. You friend can come back then." Her father's aide didn't like her, and her distress obviously irritated him.

Kathryn swallowed her tears and rose. "Never mind."

She quickly left the office and pulled the door closed behind her. It was one of the last old-fashioned wood-paneled doors in the building; most of the others had long since been replaced by sliding doors, but Edward Janeway liked the traditional touch.

When Kathryn stepped outside, she looked around eagerly, but Chakotay was gone. Tears filled her eyes again. What had she expected? He was a fourth year cadet; she was no more than a frequent campus visitor, still at least three years away from applying for SFA.

They had only known each other for three weeks, but from the moment she had met him, she knew that she would do _anything_ to get closer to him. Boothby had introduced them: 'the admiral's daughter' and 'the boxing champion', who both happened to like the groundskeeper's rose garden.

In no time at all, she had found herself ‒ at Boothby's recommendation ‒ helping Chakotay with his quantum mechanics homework. He'd been so impressed with her knowledge and grasp of the subject that he had asked if she would help him again with future lessons.

During their third meeting, Chakotay had shyly asked her his chances of securing her father as advisor for his senior thesis. Charmed by both his dark good looks and gentle nature, Kathryn had readily promised to make the necessary arrangements.

Now Chakotay was furious, and with good reason ‒ he had to hand in his approved outline today, but Admiral Janeway's current mission had been delayed without Kathryn's knowledge, and he could not be reached.

If Chakotay failed to graduate, it would be her fault.

-==/\==-

Kathryn Janeway, newly assigned commanding officer of the _USS Voyager_, snapped to attention when she found not just one, but two admirals waiting for her.

"At ease, Captain," Owen Paris said, and she relaxed her stance.

"_Voyager_'s mission profile was approved this morning." Alynna Nechayev handed her a padd. "You'll be part of the Maquis task force."

The 'Maquis task force' consisted of several ships sent out to track down and capture leaders of the most active Maquis cells. Without experienced leadership, it was hoped that the movement would fall apart from within.

Janeway doubted the success of that strategy, but she wisely kept her opinion to herself. If she had spoken up, it might have slipped out that she secretly sympathized with the Maquis ‒ not with their methods, but certainly with their motivations. In her view, it would have been much better to try and talk to them, salvage some common ground, maybe even give in to some of their demands. But it was not her call to make.

"Who will we be chasing?" she asked, already scrolling through the data on the padd.

Admiral Paris answered her question at the exact moment that Janeway found the portrait of her target. "Ex-Commander Chakotay."

It took enormous effort to keep her expression passive and her breathing even. Renegade Starfleet officers, Chakotay among them, had been in the news more often than any other Maquis ‒ there had been quite a few stories about officers suddenly turning into outlaws, and she had read them all. It had been more than twenty years since their first encounter, and she still felt a surge of heat every time she saw his picture or read his name. He was her secret fantasy, the life-long crush she'd never told anybody about ‒ and now she was supposed to hunt him down.

"His last known hiding place were the badlands," Paris went on, oblivious to the conflicting emotions warring for dominance in the woman before him. "Only _Voyager_ will be able to safely operate in that area."

Janeway looked up sharply. "The badlands? I don't mean to speak ill of my crew, but I'm not sure my helmsman is quite up to that task. It would take one hell of a pilot ‒"

"Don't worry, Captain." Nechayev stepped forward, shooting a glance at Paris that Janeway was at a loss to interpret. "We've already thought of a solution for that problem."

-==/\==-

The look on Chakotay's face as they stared at each other across their respective viewscreens told her plainly that he didn't recognize her. Even when she told him her name there was no spark of recognition in his eyes. Apparently her failure hadn't been as memorable as she'd thought.

Maybe it was better this way. If he didn't remember her, it should be easier to assert her authority over him when he beamed over. Could she maintain a 'my ship, my rules' attitude?

Once the sparkles faded and they came face to face, Kathryn fought the blush that threatened to darken her cheeks. He had been part of her dreams on and off for so many years that it took all of her self control to keep her cool.

And when Chakotay threatened Paris, and she had to bodily block his way, the sudden proximity almost overpowered her. She was close enough to smell him, close enough to kiss him ‒ although he'd probably shoot her point blank if she tried.

She swallowed hard, and banished the thought. They had crew members to find. Her feelings would have to wait.

-==/\==-

"I got your note."

"Note?"

"Your apology. About what happened… at your father's office."

"Oh." So he did remember her. The revelation made her heart first skip a beat, then accelerate almost painfully.

Chakotay tugged at his ear. "I'm sorry I never replied."

"I didn't expect you to."

"Still…"

Kathryn gave a half laugh. "That was over twenty years ago. And you managed to graduate despite my terrible blunder."

"Admiral Harrison took pity on me."

"I'm glad."

They exchanged a look, neither quite sure what to make of the other. As teenagers, they had almost been friends. Now, as adults, they were supposed to be enemies, but it didn't quite feel that way to either of them.

Chakotay broke eye contact and glanced around the ready room. "I like your ship. At least, what I've seen of it so far."

"She's quick and smart," Kathryn nodded and took refuge behind her desk.

Chakotay sat in the chair opposite and smiled. "She suits you."

The physical barrier of her desk was supposed to help calm her racing heart, but it was woefully insufficient. She was alone with him, just as she had imagined countless times as the years had gone by. If this had been any other time, any other place, she would have thrown caution to the wind and tried to charm him any way she could. But circumstances made that impossible.

She had a duty to her ship, to her crew, and to Starfleet. To that end, she was about to offer him the position of first officer. And if he agreed to her proposal, there could never be more between them than polite collegiality.

Part of her desperately wished that he would refuse.

-==/\==-

They sat with their hands linked across a narrow table, smiling at each other. Then she rose, moved around to his side and, after a moments' hesitation, settled in his lap.

"I never knew." She ran her hands through his hair and then played with the collar of his shirt. "How long have you been feeling this way?"

"I think fell in love with you the moment I trained a phaser on you and you didn't even flinch." He laughed lightly, all the while skimming his hands up and down her sides. "What about you?"

She blushed. "I've had a crush on you since I was fourteen. But after that fiasco in my father's office, I didn't think you'd ever want to be near me again."

"I'm not one to hold grudges for very long." He tenderly kissed the side of her neck, then reached for the fastener of her robe. "If we'd met again a few years later, somewhere in the Alpha Quadrant, it's entirely possible that I would have tried to seduce you."

Kathryn tilted her head back. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders when he traced his tongue along her collarbone. "We were on _Voyager_ for almost two years. Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't want to undermine your authority."

His actions were thoroughly undermining her capacity for thought and she loved every second of it. Every touch sent a ripple of pleasure through her body.

And when her robe fell away, followed by his shirt, she knew that her fantasies were about to come true at last.

-==/ The End \==-


End file.
